Shedding that old skin, Hollywood style

Fairone Man, the fairness cream for men, is out with its first ever television commercial. The TVC borrows Hollywood special effects to establish the product premise

The men's & #BANNER1 & # grooming market in India is witnessing action like never before. Following the launch of Emami Fair & Handsome and Fair & Lovely Menz Activ, now, Shahnaz Hussain's Fairone Man is all set to give men a fairness boost. Recently, the Elder Healthcare brand announced that the company's own managing director and popular television actor, Dr Anuj Saxena, would endorse the fairness cream.

The product targets urban educated males who are ready to experiment with personal grooming products. "Saxena was brought aboard to represent the 'real' man and not necessarily the metrosexual man, on whom competing brands are banking," says Ramendra Vasishth, creative director, Everest Brand Solutions, the agency on the account.

Peeling away the old skin and inhibitions

The old face, where it belongs

Product shot

A more confident man to face the world

Everest was asked to stay away from the two positioning thoughts adopted by the competition - that of the cream making men more attractive to women, and that of men gaining an edge over other men. Research by Elder Healthcare revealed that some men lack the confidence to face the world, especially when they also face the 'inhibitions' of a dark or patchy complexion. "This is the baggage, the reticence we had to ensure these men did away with," explains Mridul Munet, brand manager, Fairone Man.

The ad opens on a shot of Saxena looking depressed. The voiceover explains that one's skin can often overshadow one's personality. Saxena, quite literally, breaks away from his old patterns and 'pulls' off the skin of his face (almost like a mask coming off), and hurls it across the room. The 'face' lands up stuck on a nearby wall. Next, the voiceover explains the need for a product made from natural ingredients - Saxena is shown in aesthetic surroundings, picking up cherries and other natural ingredients. A pack shot of Shahnaz Hussain's Fairone Man cream (made from natural ingredients) then follows, and Saxena is shown applying it. He then steps confidently out of a door, ready to face the world with his new-found confidence. The film ends on the line: 'The Real Thing for Real Men'.

The 'real' part represents two elements - the natural ingredients in the product and the fact that a man does not lose his manliness by using these products. "Just shed that mask that stops you from rising," explains Vasishth of Everest.

Produced by Maverick Productions, the ad has been directed by renowned Bollywood cinematographer and director Sanjay Gupta. An expert makeup team led by John Schoonraad was flown in from London to craft the mask peeling sequence. This team, credited with Hollywood movies such as 'Black Hawk Dawn' and 'Saving Private Ryan', made a prosthetic cast of Saxena's face (it took about three weeks to perfect), which was flexible enough for the actor to rip off. Very minimal computer graphics have been used for this.

The production cost of the commercial was around Rs 1 crore.

Fairone Man has initiated a blog (http://faironeman.blogspot.com), open for comments on the fairness cream industry and various aspects related to personal grooming for men.